Nanjey'a
Classification and Dialects Nanjëa has several major dialects but variations between them are mostly in word choice, geographical pronunciations and alternate word orders. In other words all dialects of Nanjëa could communicate with relative ease. The language group is spoken by the Äblananja people who live on the southern coastal plains of the planet Äreḱa. The ancestors of the Nanja were mostly pastoral but with increasing technology eventually settled into cities and organized into a loose confederation of city-states called Äblafrakja (lit. The Group of Lands). The largest of these city-states and the capital of Äblafrakja is Bœpÿa which employs Nanjëax̌azo (Formal Nanjëa) as the official language of Äblafrakja. ''' #Äreḱadax̌o (Southern Äreḱa) ##Nanjëa ###Nanjëax̌azo (Formal Nanjëa) ###Nanjëaṕąlo (Western Nanjëa) ###Kįlavakano Laluḱa ('Cow's Tongue' Northern Nanjëa) Phonology '''Consonants *Voiced labio-velar approximate /w/ also included *Voiceless alveolar, bilabial and velar stops /t, p, k/ have distinct aspirated forms /tʰ, pʰ, kʰ/ *The only consonant that occurs as a germinate is /n/ becoming /nː/ 'Vowels' 'Phonotactics' # All syllables have a nucleus # No onset /t͡s/ or /d͡z/ # No /h/ in the syllable coda # No affricates in complex onsets # The first consonant in a complex onset must be an obstruent #The second consonant in a complex onset must not be a voiced obstruent #If the first consonant in a complex onset is not an /s/, the second must be a liquid or a glide #Every subsequence contained within a sequence of consonants must obey all the relevant phonotactic rules #No glides in codas #If the second consonant in a complex coda is voiced, so is the first #Non-alveolar nasals must be homorganic with the next segment #Two obstruents in the same coda must share voicing # No long vowels followed by germinates in the same syllable # No consecutive syllables both containing a long vowel Lexical Stress Lexical stress in Nanjëa is regular: # If there is any acute accent in the word, then that syllable is stressed # If there is no accent in the word, then the last diphthong or long vowel is stressed # If there is no acute accent and there are no diphthongs or long vowel then the second to last syllable is stressed Writing System Diphthongs * diphthongs terminating in a 'y' can only be used at the end of words and if there is an option for the ending of a word always use the 'y' diphthong * if possible, when a word ends in a diphthong the multiple letter version will be used * if possible, when a word contains a diphthong (not at its end) the single letter version will be used * to distinguish two consecutive vowels that could form a diphthong, place a grave accent (à, è, ì, ò, ù) on the leftmost letter without a diacritic Grammar Nouns Nouns in Nanjëa inflect for several categories: #Number #Case #Definiteness #Noun class Nanjëa nouns can be singular ''' ( ) '''dual ( ) or plural ( ). They can be either definite ( ) or indefinite ( ). They can belong to one of six classes: #'Persons' ( ) #'Material' ( ) #'Augmentative' (Groups) ( ) #'Diminutive' (Intimacy, Endearing) ( ) #'Abstraction' ( ) #'Loanwords/Other' ( ) They can be in one of eight common cases (certain dialects may have more or less): #'Nominative' ( ) #'Accusative' ( ) #'Dative' ( ) #'Ablative' ( ) #'Genitive' ( ) #'Vocative' ( ) #'Locative' ( ) #'Instrumental' ( ) Class and definiteness prefixes: * Only proper nouns (i.e. names of nouns) are formally declined to show respect. Pronouns Nouns can be replaced by their pronoun counterpart in almost any case Pronouns may be omitted unless they are necessary for the meaning of the sentence Cardinal Numbers Cardinal numbers can be either nouns or adjectives. Their noun form is always definite but they are not declined into any class meaning they begin in 'l(a)-'. The cardinal numbers 1-10 are as follows: 'Adjectives' # Attributive adjectives are part of the noun phrase headed by the noun they modify. "I saw three kids happy enough to jump up and down with glee." #* Single adjective - single noun #** muv̌atiflasæido 'a happy kid (lit. kid happy)' #** When one adjective is attributed to one noun, then the adjective takes on its suffix form. #* Double adjectives - single noun #** muv̌atifljaḱïluo ṕûv̌asæida 'a happy, playful kid (lit. kid playful happiness )' #** When two adjectives are attributed to one noun, then the emphasized adjective takes on its suffixal form, the noun it becomes a suffix to declines into its ablative case, and the non-emphasized adjective takes on its noun form (abstract class, mirror definiteness, formality and number of the noun to which it is attributed, and nominative case) and follows the noun to which it is attributed. #* Multiple adjectives - single noun #** muv̌atifljaḱïluo ṕûv̌asæida y ḱala 'a happy, creative, playful kid (lit. kid playful happiness and creativity )' #** When more than two adjectives are attributed to one noun, then the same rules apply as with 'double adjectives - single noun' and the additional adjectives, in its/their noun form, follow the other noun adjective with the adjectival conjunction y''' 'and', dropping its/their prefix and mirroring the first noun adjective's formality number and case. #* Single/double/multiple adjectives - multiple nouns #** '''muv̌atifljaḱï mæ walidjaḱï ṕûv̌asæida 'a happy kid and parent (lit. kid and parent happiness )' #** When one or more adjectives are attributed to two or more nouns, then the first noun declines into its ablative case, is followed by the noun conjunction mæ 'and', and the second noun drops its prefix and declines into its ablative case. The adjectives all follow the nouns in the same way as the 'Multiple adjectives - single noun' rule states. #* Adjective modified or qualified by a phrase acting as an adverb - noun #** ka lÿva muv̌atifljaḱï ṕûv̌asæidjaḱï iwbun o surus ṕûv̌amaraha mites * Adjectives in Nanjëa do not decline but do merge with the nouns they describe. All regular adjectives end in '-o'. The format for merging an adjective with a noun is as follows: If there are two adjectives describing one noun, then the adjective intended to be emphasized is merged with the noun and the other adjective(s) follow directly after the noun in their free standing form: Adjective can become superlative and comparative by their separation from the noun and addition of particles. Verbs Verbs in Nanjëa conjugate for several categories: # Person # Number # Tense # Aspect Nanjëa verbs can be singular ''' ( ) '''dual ( ) or plural ( ) each with first person ( ), second person ( ) and third person ( ). They can conjugate into five tenses: # Present # Remote Past (Things the speaker did not experience) # Recent Past (Things the speaker did experience) # Remote Future (Things the speaker will not experience: relatively rare in common language, but used in formal documents) # Near Future (Things the speaker will experience) They can conjugate into four aspects: # Perfective # Progressive (Actions) # Continuous (States) # Habitual Lexicon Cow - vak Example text Haô muv̌awalida ṕûv̌asæida tāke (lit. my child happiness has) Category:Languages Category:Languages